Preliminary biometric characteristics of Border Collies and their dependence on sport activity

Biometric measurements were made on 20 female and 20 male Border Collies. Half of the population of each sex, i.e. 10 animals (active dogs), were either currently participating in disc dog competitions or had recently finished their sporting careers due to age. The other half of the population, i.e. 10 females and 10 males, were not active in sports (non-active dogs). Most of the dogs came from Polish kennels, but some were from other countries. The following measurements were taken: diagonal body length, height at withers, chest girth, forelimb (metacarpal) girth, thigh length, shank length, foot length, and body weight. Statistical analysis of the results was performed, and the body length, massiveness, eurysomia and boniness indices were calculated. Border Collies were shown to have some biometric traits similar to those of Polish hunting dogs and Polish hounds, and some were also similar to those of Polish sheepdog breeds and Polish greyhound. The biometric analysis showed only a few statistically significant differences between active and non-active groups of Border Collies, concerning height at the withers in females and the body weight of males. Consequently, the results did not confirm the research hypothesis that the traits and biometric parameters of Border Collies differ between jumping dogs and dogs that are not active in sport, in connection with their participation in various competitions. However, it can be assumed that for the needs of sport cynology, there will be a need to select dogs predisposed to athletic performance, and analysis of the biometric traits of dogs will be a useful tool in achieving this goal. The results of the measurements collected in this study and the indices calculated from them also contribute to the biometric database of Border Collies.